“It’s not cost-cutting,” Bill Winters, the chief executive of Standard Chartered, insisted during a recent panel discussion. “It’s replacing lower-value human capital with the financial capital and the investment capital we’re putting in.”
The words created a flurry of protests—“replacing lower value human capital” hitting a nerve for those nervous about an approaching AI “jobs apocalypse”. Winters was obliged to apologize, pointing out that Standard Chartered was investing heavily in retraining teams.
